Wisconsin Soccer Central

Dafydd Jones (Cardinal Stritch) has been with the Wales national futsal team since the program played its first matches back in 2012.

The team has made great strides in those five years, and headed into last week's 2018 European Championships preliminary-round qualifying event with high hopes of advancing to the main round of qualifying for the tournament.

However, a 6-1 loss to Moldova in the opening round of Group B qualifying Thursday in Hereford, England, made that a tough task for the hosts, as only the group winner would move on to the next round.

Wales went on to rout San Marino 8-1 on Friday and draw Greece 2-2 on Sunday to finish second in the group behind dominant Moldova, which won its three matches by a combined 16-1 score as it cruised to the 28-team main round.

The 31-year-old Jones, who played at Cardinal Stritch in Milwaukee in the 2006 and '07 seasons and is now with powerhouse London futsal club Baku United, made six saves in the loss to Moldova and stopped 12 shots to help the Welsh earn the draw against Greece.

• Goalkeeper Andre Wangard (Brookfield) was invited to a Nicaragua national team camp for players born in 1999 and 2000 in February and plans to attend. The 16-year-old Wangard, who plays for Minnesota's Shattuck-St. Mary's in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy, is eligible to play for Nicaragua because his grandmother is a native of the Central American country. He participated in a training camp run by Nicaraguan national team manager Henry Duarte Molina last week in Miami.